Cushing-St. George-Thomaston

The Cushing-St. George-Thomaston Communities for Children had a C4C VISTA volunteer, supervised by a pastor in Thomaston who is a leader in the Thomaston Interchurch Fellowship. The VISTA volunteer helped with capacity building in a number of areas, including the after school program at the St. George School, the Trekkers adventure-based mentoring organization, and the 2000-2001 "Sophomore Awareness week" at Georges Valley High School.

The VISTA volunteer also helped write the mission statement before she "retired" in September 2000. The mission is "To enhance the capacity of our children, families, and communities to assess and build upon their strengths, and to identify and address resource deficiencies."

Through the C4C, many people in the three communities and the school district worked hard at fundraising through the process of writing grant proposals. The Cushing-St. George-Thomaston C4C facilitated the completion of three proposals. Both in March 2000 and in March 2001, the group helped the school district apply for federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers funding, which would bring approximately $1.5 million into the communities to establish and enhance after school/out of school programs. The proposal was not successful on the first try, but the group was so encouraged by the partnerships created in the process of writing the proposal, that they submitted a new, improved plan this past year.

In May 2001, this C4C also facilitated the completion of a proposal for funding from the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, which would bring $45,000 into the community in support of mentoring projects. Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Trekkers, and Nurturing Families have all worked with area children before, but this proposal would enable them to collaborate with the school district to identify teens with leadership qualities who would be trained to work as mentors with younger children in each other’s groups. Even if funding is not obtained, the C4C is very pleased with the progress made in bringing leaders from these organizations together to identify ways they can collaborate to make an even bigger impact on children and their families.

Although the C4C feels that these proposals might very well have not been completed without the assistance and enthusiasm of the C4C group, they also would not have been completed without the dedication and expertise of other community members who collaborated.

The Cushing-St. George-Thomaston C4C has become a "known entity" in the school district, which respects the goals and values represented, and also appreciates the participation of individual members who serve on the school board, volunteer with various after school or mentoring programs, and back up staff members working on their own grant proposals.

The latest example of community-wide recognition of the role of the C4C came when the group was asked to provide the written support from "a community group" for the completion of a proposal being made by the Student Services department at the high school to the state Department of Education, with the potential of receiving some matching funds from MBNA. The C4C voiced support for district plans to develop a character education curriculum and enhance their advisor/advisee mentoring project between staff and students. The group was pleased to be identified as just the right "community group" to voice this support.

Contact Cushing-St. George-Thomaston C4C